Poker musings; playstyles

I have done a great deal of reading. I understand the concepts they have about only playing premium hands from early position, good hands from middle position, and decent hands from late position. I also understand the reluctance to limp.

I have studied how much to raise and when, how often to bluff...and when to call the bluffs.

I have also worked very hard at putting people on hands, knowing when to call, when to fold, when to reraise...and I am accurate more often than not.

I am able to both put people on a range of hands and occasionally even on the exact hand. I see the potential flushes and straights. I can pick up on it when someone is afraid of those and willing to fold to it.

But "correct" poker does not suit me. To be sure, sitting back and waiting for premium hands can work for me...I can get to the final table almost at will. But I often get there with so few chips it becomes a matter of find a hand, push and hope.

Meanwhile, when I play a lot of hands, even if they are sub-par hands I am more effective. To be sure, sometimes I bust out earlier and my results vary widely...last night was a good example as I got down under 2000 and climbed back to over 4000 several times early on...but it also allows me to build large stacks much more often as I hit odd flops harder and take people for a ride.

I think what works best for me is playing any pair and any connectors, suited or not. Of course, I call connectors anything either adjoining or separated by 2 places...I.E. a 7/10 is connected for me. Give me a flop of 6/8/9 and I am raising it up! I hit a lot of flops that way.

I also demonstrate aggression. As often as not I will bet my draws like a made hand. Sometimes this causes my opponents to fold...other times it does not. It does, however, make me appear to be a maniac and scares them off of hands they might otherwise bet. Thus I am found in a lot of wierd hands...4/7, 6/8, etc. and hit enought of them hard to make it very successful. This works very well in a limping environment.

I am tempted to change my overall style exclusively to this. Of course, I would modify it a lot when, for example, I am in a place where people either bring it in for a raise or fold. It means I could play fewer hands...so I would tighten them up slightly. After all, with 3000 starting and 25/50 blinds if people limp in I could see 20 flops and only lose a third of my stack...on the other hand, if they are bumping to 300 I can only see 3 - 4 flops before going into super tight mode.

So from now on I will play my connectors the same way I play a premium hand and might even add suited Aces to the mix. It is more fun, I am more involved in the game and thus get better reads on people, and I have better success. I think I have a plan.